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Liz Clarke
Reporter covering the Washington Redskins
Nearly a week after Serena Williams faced chair umpire Carlos Ramos in the last moments of his loss to the US Open women's final, tennis remains shaken by an emotional debate over fundamental fairness and conscious sexism. or not. playground.
● In Zadar, Croatia, this weekend, Ramos, who beat Williams 6-2, 6-4 against Naomi Osaka, returned to work with the support of the International Tennis Federation, which Put it to work. to officiate the semi-final of the Davis Cup between the United States and Croatia.
● On Friday, the London Telegraph released a data analysis on 20-year fines at the Grand Slam events, undermining Williams' claim that there is a sexist bias in the arbitration. The data showed that men were fined for code violations (including racketeering abuse, verbal abuse, and other offenses) nearly three times as often as women in Grand Slam tournaments. 1998 to 2018.
Because men play the best of the five grand slam tournaments and women play the best of the three, men are usually on the court longer and have to wait for what they entail. more violations. But the differential in the analysis of the Telegraph – 1,534 fines for men versus 526 for women – can not be explained simply by the time spent in court.
[Williams’s sexism charge ‘a bit far-fetched,’ says male U.S. Open mixed doubles champ]
● In Australia, a widely criticized newspaper for publishing a caricature of Williams that many saw as a racist cartoon, doubled the picture by republishing it on its first page under the title "Welcome to PC World".
● The global tennis official community would have looked at what many perceive as a lack of support from the main governing bodies of sport.
Katrina Adams, president of the American Tennis Association, praised Williams for "his class and sportsmanship" after his defeat. The Women's Tennis Association echoed Adams' sentiments.
● Sports fans around the world, especially in the United States, are polarized and many condemn the excesses of Williams, while others blame Ramos for the rigid behavior of the sport and almost everything he forbids.
[Hank Aaron sees echoes of ‘what I had to deal with’ in how Serena Williams was treated]
The fault tennis – as in the International Tennis Federation and every national body that has a voice in the sport – for the latter.
For decades, the rules book of tennis has been misunderstood, gives great discretion to officials and, as a result, is sometimes applied capriciously. These shortcomings are aggravated by an inexplicable but apparently inviolable tradition that chair umpires are not allowed to explain their decisions. Indeed, referees are forbidden to grant interviews.
This leaves a perilous void in which players may feel victimized when they are penalized for a violation that their rivals flout without consequence – whether it is rarely the foot foul, the violation of practice or the violation of time. It also leaves a void that sports commentators – and anyone with a social media platform – are only too happy to fill, whether from fact-based views or mere assumptions. .
By refusing to explain hard-to-understand decisions – arrogance in tradition – tennis does a disservice to officials, tournament organizers, players and anyone with a financial or emotional interest in the game.
Sport, by and large, says, "Do not ask; Just trust us. And, by the way, keep buying tickets and license fees, but do not expect an explanation of the penalties that could affect the outcome. "
In response to the lingering controversy over how Williams behaved and how it was handled, the communications office of the US Tennis Association, which owns and operates the US Open, has takes the first step towards transparency of officials. Like the NFL and the NBA, he recommends appointing a pool reporter (the term for a journalist selected to represent the press covering an event) to ask questions to officials in circumstances requiring further clarification. wide, according to the USTA. spokesperson Chris Widmaier. The idea should be endorsed by a larger internal group of the USTA leadership and the sports officials team.
Two other initiatives should also be implemented:
First, the ITF needs to clarify the sport regulations. If foot fouls, time violations, and coaching violations are not consistently enforced, they must be removed from the rule book. In addition, the definition of verbal abuse needs to be clarified – not with a list of prohibited words, but with a deeper explanation of whether threatening acts, persistent harangue, attacks of a character
Second, tennis officials must form a trade union or professional organization. The head of an association of tennis officials, for example, could explain controversial decisions, defend an official victim of unfair attacks and press for better wages and working conditions if it is justified.
As a veteran, Bob Christianson, who has worked 38 times in the United States, told the San Diego Union Tribune this week: "As public servants, we do not have a spokesperson or advocate for us. And we are not supposed to talk to the press without permission. We therefore have no way of getting our message across. We are completely muzzled.
In addition, said Christianson, the prospect of a referees 'strike against Williams' future matches, which seemed to be abating soon after the rumor, was not totally abandoned. "We are looking for Serena's apologies to officials or officials in general. And if we do not understand this, there could be a potential boycott of his next game, "Christianson told the newspaper.
Few people would say that Ramos is not fit to continue his work. He did not do anything technically wrong by strictly enforcing the rules – issuing a warning for violating coaching; then a penalty of one point for racquet abuse; Finally, after considering verbal abuse as the third violation of Williams' code, he was forced to make a match. Yet Ramos can and should be accused of not exercising his discretion to issue a so-called "progressive warning" and reminding Williams, after receiving his second penalty, that his next offense would be the loss of a match.
This is where Ramos made a mistake, in the eyes of the former agent and promoter of the tournament, Sara Fornaciari. Although she found Williams' behavior inexcusable, she also blamed Ramos for not giving him a warning at the critical moment – especially after the arrival of a crowd of New York fans. "His job is not just about enforcing the rules; it's to maintain order in the court, "Fornaciari said. "If he had given a sweet warning, he could have stood aside."
It was only after the USTA and the Women's Tennis Association had sided with Williams that the ITF publicly defended Ramos, issuing a statement Monday in which he stated "to have acted at all times with professionalism and integrity". assigning Ramos to the semifinal of the American Davis Cup.
Ramos was photographed at a pre-match event by speaking with Adams, the president of the USTA. According to the Associated Press, Adams was surprised to apologize to Ramos on the sidelines of Thursday's draw.
Adams, through a spokesman for the USTA, declined to comment on Friday.
Given the persistent feelings of all parties, the Davis Cup team hopes to avoid igniting the situation in its semifinal against Croatia. "He was polarized and in some ways politicized," US Captain Jim Courier told The Associated Press on Thursday. "But we have no doubt that Carlos was only applying the rules as he sees them."
In the United States, it was a little surprising that ITA had entrusted Ramos so quickly with such a prestigious mission after the summer. Open United States, especially with the US team.
"There are Davis Cup matches all over the world. this [assignment] put it back in front of all, "noted Fornaciari. "I will not watch it. I do not want to make it worse.
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